The Story Siren

Jack Elway – Acting Cool When You Meet Your Heroes

There is a saying that you should never meet your heroes because you will only be disappointed but in my view this is simply not true. I used to work in a hotel which was very often frequented by celebs and sporting greats, and I gradually learned how to act around my heroes. Things got off to a bad start on day one when I met the great Jack Elway and acted like what can only be described as an awkward fool. Over the years however I learned how to approach such a situation and so I wanted to offer you some advice in case you ever happen to meet your celebrity hero.

Human

The first thing to remember is that this is just another human, and you should treat them as such. To put this in perspective, I went to the hotel one day to pick something up from work with my grandma who is 87 years old. My grandma waited in the lobby as I went into the back to grab my bag. When I came back into the lobby, here is my grandam asking Tyson Chandler for some help getting back to her feet, before commenting on how tall he was. My grandma had absolutely no idea who this man was and so she treated him the same way as she would treat anyone else. This is also how you should act when you meet one of your heroes.

Reading the Situation

You have to be able to read the situation when you meet a celeb or sporting hero, sometimes it may just be a bad time. You have to imagine that these people are followed by fans and paparazzi all day long and because of that they can get frustrated, especially when someone is interrupting their quiet, personal time. If you want the best experience, don’t interrupt them when they are eating dinner with the family, instead wait until they go to the bathroom or get up to leave before asking for a photograph or an autograph. Just ask yourself how much you would like being accosted during a meal with your family, or whatever the situation may be, after answering this question you will be able to tell whether it is a good time or not.

Talking

Strangely I see many people go up to celebs or sports stars and try to rib them about something which happened to them, or when someone beat them. These people are not robots and they will get annoyed if you decide to remind them of something negative, even if you are just joking around. Keep your comments brief and poignant, ask for whatever it is you want signing or for the picture to be take and then let them get on their way. For the best experience be kind, be complimentary and then move on, you aren’t looking to make new friends here.